Friday, March 21, 2008

It's been an outrageously busy week so I am going to post a recount of a lesson in perspective that is both humorous and true.

Enjoy, -J

Chapter One: (Eeeewwwww)

A short while (and about 25 lbs ago) I was in the "run" leg of a Sprint Triathlon (1/2 mile swim, 20 mile bike, 3+ mile run) about 1 mile from the finish I heard someone from behind exclaim that he had to pass me because he couldn't let someone with a disturbing injury beat him... (I had played hockey a few days before and got hit with a puck in the back of my leg...I did have a huge bruise but there was no more pain; I must admit that the huge, multi-colored bruise looked nasty). Well, I managed to beat him (ha ha); but, as it turned out this was just a sign of things to come...

Chapter Two: (WTF)

After the race I was getting some re-hydration and bananas and was walking back to the race staging area to begin to pack up and leave when I again heard someone behind me exclaim their horror at the bruise. The person was saying that he was inspired that someone with such a bad looking injury actually competed and finished the course... I turned in the middle of answering to him that "...Oh, it was just a hockey bruise and nothing too serious..." yet as I turned and finally saw this guy (a really toned athlete) I saw that he had only 1 leg (he wore one of those racing prosthetics)... He did the same race as me with only one leg and he was impressed by me??? WTF/LOL!!!

Chapter Three: (Hmmmm)

After running thru a long list of thoughts that flooded me I finally had a nice talk with him about how funny it seemed to me that he is the one to me who is truly inspiring, running on one leg and that he thought my little (well OK big) bruise was inspiring to him was a great irony...we both had a little laugh and a realization about perspective...we both seemed to think our situations were merely our normal state...

Monday, March 03, 2008

A friend asked me how I made stacked 3D Plan Views in a project I was showing him; so I offer this up for everyone (who sees it) to use and abuse... I bet you (us) abusers can find many other uses for composite Revit Views!!! (perhaps one day I'll post my shortcuts too) Ready, Set...

GO.

1) Model your building (LOL)2) Open Up a 3D View (you can have a lot of fun with Camera Views and these techniques as well!!!) I'll use this one:3) View>Orient>To Other View (or in my world OO...great for repetition!!!)

4) Yeah, It's obviously imperative to choose the appropriate View for what you are attempting...(Hmm Sections? Although not shown possible!!!)

Here's how that 3D looks now...BUT WAIT!!! (although if you create 2 of each View you can place the 3D "Plan" with shadows next to the isometrics that this posting illustrates...Ohhh More Fun!!!)

5) Now View>Orient>Save View (or in my world SV...Are you getting the idea that using shortcuts are faster for repetitive tasks???!!! I think I just saved $100.00)6) Then (AKA: now) View>Orient>Northeast (or whatever you like...If you're not bored with the shortcut train of thought here it is: SV...Yes, Save View). Saving the View will create a new Default 3D view, thus enabling you to repeat the steps above as many times as needed (in this example there are 7 total)...Here is a completed ISO Plan that will be stacked with the others... (Yes, I created one for every Level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...+ a Site view that I discarded in the end)7) Shampoo, Rinse, Repeat...

Here is a sheet view with all 7 views stacked (Yes, you'll want to place the views in an order so as to not cover the wrong ones up...let's say lowest to highest...it all depends on your desires...remember they will snap to alignment if you move them in line with each other)

WAIT A MINUTE!!! Did I just stack them on a Rendering from Revit? And did I actually only select Medium Quality, then push the Render button and let Mental Ray work??? Oh yes I did!!! I also must admit I did open the exported .tif Rendering output in my photo editor, to place a background, due to the fact that when (in Revit 2009) you export a rendering as a .tif or .png it also saves out an Alpha channel (which even accounts for glass, etc...) I say F' Yeah to that!!!